


Fruitcake

by Darkhorse



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Language, M/M, Old fashioned insults, Underlaying Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-27
Updated: 2013-02-27
Packaged: 2017-12-03 19:05:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/701631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhorse/pseuds/Darkhorse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for this prompt on the kinkmeme; </p><p>Modern or canon-era where Cosette is raised by Valjean and Javert. Someone thinks that they can get away with making disparaging comments about Cosette's two dads within her hearing. Cosette demonstrates that she may have gotten her goodness and charity from her Papa, but her sass and ability to verbally smack someone down from her Father. Bonus points if either/both of them overhears and can't help but be proud.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fruitcake

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for old-fashioned insult towards Homosexuals.
> 
> Set in England because I know zilch on the American school-system
> 
> If you want to leave kudos, please comment too

First days at school were hard anyway.  
They were hard without being bilingual and your slightly more dominant one being French  
They were hard without you having missed school when you were young and still playing catch up.  
They were hard without having the distinction of being adopted

By two men. It had never bothered her, that she had Papa and Father while others had a mother. She had a mother, in heaven...

But it bothered the girls at school. Some just turned away, the best ignored her, while others looked at her with disgust. That she could cope with, was coping with. Until...  
“Hi”  
She looked around to see a redhead wandering over, a friendly smile on her face, and so returned the greeting “Good morning”  
People seemed to be gathering around her, but she didn't actually notice, too pleased to possibly have a friend. The red-head watched her and she looked back  
“Cherie”  
She shook her head, unconsciously lapsing to French at the familiarity of the word it _“Je suis désolé mademoiselle, je suis Cosette. Peut-être il ya quelqu'un qui me ressemble, qui porte ce nom.”_  
The girl stared at her with something like delight “No, you're Cherry. You're the filling in a fruitcake, you with your Dads”  
The watchers tittered and just as quickly, the girl was gone, leaving Cosette standing alone on the playground, staring after them with a frown on her face.

She didn't think anything unusual of it, when only Papa was there to pick her up in the afternoon. Sometimes they'd do that, avoid the odd looks people gave. Still, something was too tense on the drive home.

The first real clue as to what had happened was when her Papa used both keys to open the front door. She stood on the doorstep, watching early falling leaves dance in the wind. But when she got inside the house was silent, empty. On instinct she ran about as she had early on, checking all the places either Papa or Father would use for hide and seek, before coming back to the kitchen.  
“Where's Father?”  
Papa was sitting at the table,his head low, and merely pointed at the calender. There on the date, where there had been a post-it-note under ' Cosette to school' listing all the things they had to remember, was now 'D-Day'  
She stared at it for a long moment, before remembering one of the early conversations after her adoption. About how Father was in the Army, and that he would have to go away for long periods of time. She remembered it exactly, because Papa had translated it into French for her, one of the few times he'd done it that wasn't a language lesson.  
“Oh” What else could she say. What else could she do but slip onto her Papa's lap and accept the hug she was given.  
But in some ways it was a mercy, for she forgot about school.

Her forgetfulness lasted only until they were lined up for class. Then people started whispering again.  
“Cherry”  
“Fruitcake's child”  
She didn't understand what they meant.

The first term went by and Christmas break came. The teachers gave her cards to show her Papa, they were very careful to say Papa, and he commented on how good her behaviour seemed to have been, and her grades.  
“Kind, polite, hard-working, a wonderful little girl.” Her Papa nodded over each, but made no mention of her grades, mealy passing the slips over to the empty seat at the table...  
Empty seat, where Father should be... With his sharp eyes and snappy comments over the important letters and the handwriting.  
It was Christmas eve when she finally had a chance to sneak on the computer and google 'Fruitcake (Insult)'.  
But Christmas wouldn't have been much fun anyway, so one more thing to spoil it didn't matter.

The teasing didn't stop when she got back. It was quiet, insidious, nothing a teacher would notice. As she passed there would be the odd mention of fruit, seemingly random. Sultana, Cherry, Candy peel. So subtle, but every word was a dagger in her.

 

Two days before half-term, February, was when it all became too much. One last whisper 'Date-stone' had her bolting to the library through the wild crush of students changing lessons. She found the bean-bag corner and buried herself under them. Somewhere, in a dark heart, she hoped she'd never be found again.

But someone did find her, because couldn't suppress a squeak when she was nearly sat on. The face that peered down at her was one of her class, a girl with freckles and glasses called Jenny, their class monitor as a matter of fact.  
“Cosette? Why are you here?”  
She pulled back, burrowing under the cushions again, trying to hide. But Jenny, like a rat dog, teased her out.  
It didn't take long before her dam broke and she'd poured out everything to the other girl, including the fact that her Father was away and why. By the end, she felt braver, as if she needed to fall apart before she could stand up.

 

She understood why officers needed a lieutenant now, it was a comfort to know Jenny was at her shoulder. The class room was heaving with people as it was a rained-off break, so all they had to do was stand and wait.  
It didn't take long. It was like the very first day all-over again, the same girl, a similar situation  
“Hey, Cherry!”  
Cosette ignored her, drawing her closer and closer like a fish on a line  
“Did the tall one leave of his own accord or did your Papa realise that having a male lover was wrong."

 

They could hear the shouted insults from down the corridor, teachers appearing from all over school. Valjean staggered as the full import of what the girl was saying sank in “Oh God have mercy, that's why she burst out crying when she saw her birthday cake.”  
Everyone hurried in that direction, only to pause as another voice was heard  
“My name is Cosette, Cosette. I'm not Cherry, or Sultana, or any of those. So what if I have two fathers? Papa loves me and Father loves me.”  
Peering through the window the tall man saw the brown haired girl standing soldier straight, chest heaving from her speech, head held high as she stared at her fomenter. Quietly he pushed open the door, unnoticed by Cosette or the other girl  
“No he doesn't, he's left you.”  
“He left because he's in the Army and he's deployed to Afganistan... And I'm proud of him.”

“And I'm proud of you”  
She was slow to turn, unable to believe her ears. But there he was, still in uniform, standing in the doorway  
“Father...”  
He held out his hands and she ran forward, being swept up into a rough, awkward embrace  
“At ease, Sargent, the battle's won.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to leave kudos, please comment too  
> Thanks for reading


End file.
